The present invention relates to a food composition comprising at least one food ingredient and containing a monoglyceride mix, and the process for obtaining the food composition.
Emulsifiers, such as monoglycerides, have an amphiphilic molecular structure. This means that a portion of the molecule is hydrophilic and another portion of the molecule is lipophilic. Because of this amphiphilic character, monoglycerides spontaneously form aggregates when placed in a solution or an aqueous dispersion. Various types of aggregates may be formed which depends on the molecular structure of the monoglyceride in water. Thus, it is possible to have either micelles, a crystalline liquid phase, such as a cubic, lamellar, or hexagonal phase, or a crystalline phase. All these structures are capable of incorporating or solubilizing host molecules. Because of the amphiphilic character of monoglycerides which leads to the formation of aggregates, it is possible to solubilize hydrophilic as well as lipophilic host molecules. The degree of solubilization depends on the molecular structure of the monoglyceride and on the host molecule.
Published patent applications WO 92/09209, EP 664083 and EP 547647 mention the use of crystalline liquid phases in foods. These applications are related because each describes the possibility of using such phases as a structuring agent of a food component that has a low fat content. In this regard, these applications focus on coagel and lamellar phases. It is generally known that many surfactants form such molecular arrangements over a wide range of temperatures and compositions when they are dispersed in water. Therefore, in these applications, there are only few limitations concerning the choice of the emulsifiers.
Studies have already been carried out on the use of cubic networks for encapsulating biologically active compounds. Compounds which react or affect living organisms and cells, such as lidocaine, gramicidin, insulin, BSA, or vitamins E have applications in pharmacy, medicine, or cosmetics. Patent applications WO 93/06921 and WO 84/02076 disclose uses in the field of medicine wherein the aim is to encapsulate an active ingredient so as to control its release. The disadvantage of these applications is that the monoglyceride used is very rich in monoolein, namely that it contains more than 90% thereof, and as a result, this increases the cost of the product and requires a more sophisticated method of use. Since high value-added products exist in the medical field, this can be tolerated and is acceptable. On the other hand, in the food sector, a high value-added product is hardly acceptable.
The present invention uses certain mesomorphic structures to carry out encapsulations of food products with monoglycerides, so as to control the release of food products without disadvantageous high costs. Accordingly, the present invention resolves the problems of the prior art by producing a food composition which is not very expensive and is simple to produce on a commercial scale using commercially available and inexpensive monoglycerides.
The goal of the present invention is to also benefit from the possibility of having certain mesomorphic structures which make it possible to carry out encapsulations of food products with monoglycerides, so as to control the release of such food products. According to the present invention, on the one hand, a result is obtained with a process of implementation which is not very expensive and which is simple and, on the other hand, it is possible to use commercially available, and therefore also inexpensive, monoglycerides.
The present invention is specifically directed to a food composition comprising at least one food ingredient in an amount sufficient to impart flavor to the composition; a monoglyceride mix in an amount sufficient to form a mesomorphic structure which substantially encapsulates the food ingredient; and water. The monoglyceride mix is preferably a monoglycerol monoester comprising up to about 90% of C18 monoolein with one unsaturation, and the remainder being a C18 monolinolein with two unsaturations or a saturated monoglycerol monoester; a monoglycerol monoester comprising up to about 90% of monolinolein C18 with two unsaturations, and the remainder being a monoolein C18 with one unsaturation or a saturated monoglycerol monoester; or a mixture of a saturated or unsaturated di- or polyglycerol monoester and a di- or polyglycerol di- or polyester, or another food emulsifier. The food composition has a mesomorphic structure selected from the group consisting of cubic, lamellar, hexagonal, and mixtures thereof in the aqueous phase. Preferably, the mesomorphic structure is a cubic structure.
In another embodiment of the invention, the saturated monoglycerol monoester is a saturated monoester monoglyceride in an amount up to about 30%. Optionally, the monoglyceride mix has at least one monoglyceride derivative or another food emulsifier, preferably one that is selected from the group consisting of tartaric acid ester, citric acid ester, sucrose ester, phospholipid, polyglycerol ester, and sodium stearoyl lactilate. The polyglycerol ester is the ester of propylene glycol.
The food composition may further comprise a stabilizing agent selected from the group consisting of starch, modified starch, milk proteins, soya bean proteins, surfactant hydrocolloids, and mixtures thereof. The surfactant hydrocolloids is selected from the group consisting of guar gum, carob gum, and mixtures thereof.
The food ingredient is selected from the group consisting of seasonings, flavorings, salts, sugars, oligosaccharides, amino acids, peptides, proteins, enzymes, polysaccharides, coffee flavorings, and mixtures thereof.
In another embodiment of the invention, the food composition is an aqueous solution having a dry matter content in an amount from about 0.2% to about 20% and a monoglyceride mix in an amount from about 0.1% to about 2% by weight of the composition. In yet another embodiment, the food composition is in aqueous form having a dry matter content in an amount from about 40% to about 50% and a monoglyceride mix in an amount from 0.1% to about 2% by weight of the composition. In another embodiment, the food composition is in powdered form and the monoglyceride mix is present in an amount from 0.1% to about 4% by weight of the food composition.
The invention is also directed to a process for making a food composition comprising the steps of: mixing a food ingredient in sufficient amount to impart flavor to the food composition with a monoglyceride mix present in sufficient amount to form a mesomorphic structure; adding water in sufficient amount to form a mixture having a mesomorphic structure in an aqueous solution; and adding the remainder of the food ingredient to the mixture to form the food composition.
In one embodiment of the process, the food ingredient is mixed in aqueous phase with the monoglyceride mix to form a mixture with the mesomorphic structure prior to adding sufficient water to form the food composition. In another embodiment, the food ingredient is mixed at room temperature with the monoglyceride mix and water to obtain a mixture having a water content from about 20% to about 45%, prior to adding the remainder of the food ingredient to the mixture to form the food composition. In yet another embodiment, the food ingredient and water are mixed to form in an aqueous phase, adding the aqueous phase, at room temperature, with the monoglyceride mix to form the composition with a water content greater than about 90%. Optionally, this process further comprises the step of aseptically filling the composition to obtain a ready-to-drink beverage.
The process may further comprise adding a stabilizer to the food composition, wherein, the stabilizer is selected from the group consisting of starch, modified starch, milk proteins, soya bean proteins, guar gum, carob gum, lysolecithin, sucrose esters, and mixtures thereof.
Unless otherwise specified, all percentages mentioned herein are weight percents.